CHANDIGARH: Seventeen youths from Punjab and Haryana who got duped by unscrupulous agents in India on the pretext of getting a job in Italy in February this year landed back in Delhi last night.
Each of them paid Rs 13 lakh and was taken to Dubai and Egypt where they landed under the captivity of armed mafia in Zuwara City of Libya.
The whole rescue operation and process of repatriation was coordinated and facilitated by Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Member of Parliament of Rajya Sabha from Punjab.
Sahney said, "We received a panic call from these boys on May 28 in which they informed us that they are stranded in Libya and were being physically tortured and were made to do unpaid labour for months. We even spoke to them on video calls in which we can see that they were living in unimaginable conditions without proper meals.’’
"India does not have any diplomatic mission in Libya so we were helpless in that manner. We tried an immediate intervention by booking a hotel and arranging two taxis for these boys so that they can run from the captivity and get rescued. On June 13, we initiated this rescue operation and we were able to successfully pull it off. We were on constant call with these boys throughout that night until they reached the hotel booked by us,’’ he said.
Sahney further stated that destiny was testing us as after two days of stay at the hotel, the hotel owner duped us. The boys were arrested from the hotel and sent to a jail in Tripoli.
"With the help of the nearest Indian embassy in Tunisia, we contacted United Nations for help. We requested these boys be released on humanitarian grounds from Libyan prison and repatriated to India", he said.
After weeks of correspondence and persistent requests, on July 30, Tunisia was able to access through United Nations and get these boys released from jail and sent to the Port of Illegal Immigrants in Tripoli, Libya.
Finally, on August 19, all the paperwork and other formalities were done and the boys boarded a flight to Delhi.
Sahney said, "The plane landing in Delhi was not merely a plane, it was a mother's hope, a sister's affection and a father's love that was coming along with it."
"I interacted with each of these boys yesterday. They consider it as a rebirth, the emotions which were pouring at the airport by their parents and family members was inexpressible,’’ he said.
Sahney stated that now he is concentrating on the legal action to be taken against the unscrupulous agents who duped these boys.
"I am in constant touch with the SIT of Punjab Police against Human Trafficking and officials of Haryana and Delhi Police. We will ensure strict action against the guilty,’’ he said.